Literature and Fiction2022 · 448 pp
The Knife in the Fire
Ingeborg Arvola
The Knife in the Fire is a riveting historical novel about work and love, strong communities, and carefree erotica, the individual and the community.
The year is 1859. Brita Caisa Seipajærvi straps on her skis and takes the long road from Finland to Norway with her two children. Brita Caisa has been disciplined by the church for having an affair with a married man. She can heal animals and humans. The destination for their journey is Bugøynes, where the sea is said to be brimming with cod.
The Knife in the Fire is the first title in the Ruijan rannalla/Songs from the Arctic Ocean series, about Finnish Kvens and the landscape they live in. Brita Caisa was the great-great-grandmother of author Ingeborg Arvola. Arvola’s writing evokes the smell of blood after slaughtering reindeer, the taste of cloudberries, the feeling of coldness from the snow and heat from the fire.WINNER OF THE BRAGE PRIZE FOR BEST WORK OF FICTION 2022NOMINATED TO NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE 2023NOMINATED FOR THE BOOKSELLER'S AWARD 2022NOMINATED FOR THE CRITIC'S AWARD 2022NOMINATED FOR THE YOUTH CRITIC'S AWARD 2022The Knife in the Fire is a magnificent epic tale by Ingeborg Arvola. A fascinating and riveting read, with an ending promising for a future continuation. And yes, the publisher promises that there will be a trilogy. ******VG
A dramatic, poetic and steamy novel sets the bar high
[M]ore than anything, it's the forbidden attraction and love between Brita Caisa and the married Askan Mikko that gives the story its force. It's been long since bodies and desire have been portrayed so nakedly and simply put, sexy, in a Norwegian book! A sensuous, realistic and very poetic novel.KLASSEKAMPENThis really is an absolute treat of a novel. *****ALTAPOSTENJuicy sex and unbridled desire... Bestseller-potential. ... a riveting novel about love, work and superstition. ... historically interesting. ... can be read in one lustful rush. *****DAGBLADET
There is much to like about this novel, dealing with an less communicated part of the Norwegian, Sami and Kven history. The writing is excellent, the story is exciting and dramatic, the descriptions of the landscape are beautiful, and the character descriptions are realistic. *****AFTENPOSTENMost exciting is the descriptions of the love between Brita Caisa and the married farmer Mikko, with intensely sensual erotic writing as a result. Together they are greater than his bible and triumphing the judgement by society. STAVANGER AFTENBLADForbidden love, boiling arctic fishing and warm hands. Ingeborg Arvola's novel set in Northern Norway has everything required to become a bestseller. ... lovesickness this hot – and equally steamy lovemaking – I have not encountered in a Norwegian novel in quite some time.NRK.NO
Oh my, The Knife in the Fire is a good book ... Human and nature really melt together when Brita and Mikko are alone (without clothes) in the dead of night. And here Arvola writes so intensely and powerfully that the reading glasses fog up to ... All in all, Arvola writes really, really well. Insanely well, in fact. Like a dream you didn't know you were walking around with.BERLINGSKE (DENMARK), five/six stars
A fascinating novel about the problems of cohabitation among nomads in Lapland. POLITIKEN (DENMARK)
Arvola writes a bygone world out of oblivion, a Scandinavian Wild West where life was hard and death quick. It is not difficult to understand why 'The Knife in the Fire' has received so much praise. In the novel there is a hard-to-define energy that inspires confidence in art as well as life. It radiates not only from the exceptional character of the protagonist but also from the very language of the book.GOTHENBURG POST (SWEDEN)
It is not difficult to understand that Arvola was awarded the Brage Prize, Norway's highest literary award, for this novel. It is a fascinating portrait of people's lives in an area during a time rarely described in literature.VI LÄSER (SWEDEN)
I am totally blown away by the power of the portrayal and without a doubt name this one of the greatest reading experiences of 2024, even though the year is only a few weeks old! ... [U]nforgettable and impressive. Ingeborg Arvola received the 2022 Norwegian Brage Award for the masterpiece. An excellent choice!ALINGSÅS NEWSPAPER (SWEDEN)
It is a beautiful book with a poetic, soaring language ... a both painful and life-giving experience.SYDSVENSKAN (SWEDEN)
It is with great empathy that Ingeborg Arvola puts Brita Caisa and her sons on a pair of skis and sends them out in search of a new life... I salute Marianne Mattsson, who must have struggled with the translation of a prose that wanted to maintain a linguistic tradition, where, for example, the same person can have three different names.AFTONBLADET (SWEDEN)
Besides the figure of Brita Caisa Seipajærvi, who both fascinates and frustrates, it is the insight into a world that is new to me that is the biggest takeaway from 'The Knife in the Fire'. The northern Norwegian Finnmark, which I have never visited in reality, and neither can I remember travelling there via literature’s travel agency. Ingeborg Arvola succeeds in portraying both the magnificent and the challenging life that characterizes the place. The story teems like the cod in the sea off the coast.GEFLE NEWSPAPER (SWEDEN)
Arvola creates a strong presence with her intense snapshots of work and togetherness with people living in the grip of nature and chance. Poetry flows through the brutal narrative while dreams turn to dust and Brita and Mikko walk towards the abyss. But the last word about them has not been said. A trilogy is promised. As a reader, you are hooked. You want to know how it goes for these tightly drawn people, drawn into a vortex of emotions and events.VÄSTERBOTTENS-KURIREN (SWEDEN)
... a captivating tale of Finns, Sámi, and Norwegians in the wilds of Finnmark – spiced with an Arctic love story.Helsingin Sanomat (Finland)
